The trees had changed without any of them quite noticing when.
Victor realized it first, the way the canopy overhead had thickened into something closer to permanent twilight, the undergrowth grown wilder and less trampled by prior foot traffic. Somewhere in the last hour, without a clear line to mark the transition, they'd drifted out of the Green Zone.
"We need to turn back," Seraphina said, stopping mid-step. "Look at the ground."
Victor looked. The claw marks scattered across the dirt were larger now, deeper, gouged with a confidence that belonged to something considerably more dangerous than a No-Blade Drak.
"One-Blade," Nyx said quietly, crouching beside the nearest print. "We're in the Yellow Zone."
"When did that happen?" Caleb asked, already scanning the trees with a lot less enthusiasm than he'd shown that morning.
